Cyber.
A story about the victims of cyber bullying is the 2016 winner of Get Reel: Top Ten Filmmakers’ Festival.
Cyber, produced by young filmmaker Georgia Cramp, was declared the winner at the finalist screening on July 24 at the Ritz Cinema in Sydney. Happy Thoughts by Michael Hall was the runner-up.
The Get Reel Short Filmmakers’ Festival received more than 1650 entries from across Australia and New Zealand. Entrants were asked to respond to the theme of ‘Being Seen’ through a short film ten minutes or less shot on a smart device.
The competition awarded $4500 in prizes, and films were voted by a judging panel that included the likes of Danielle Cormack, Jessica Grace Smith, Socratis Otto and Marcario De Souza.
The competition was aimed to start a conversation around mental health. Funds raised from the finalist screening go to Suicide Prevention Australia.
Cyber tells the story of how an attacker eventually notices the words he posted online have gone too far.
High-school student Cramp said she entered the competition because it was about “making a difference to people’s attitudes about how we see each other and people in our community. Sometimes we just need to ask ‘how are you?’ to make a difference in someone's life.”
De Souza said: “Cyber drew me in through the spoken word and narration, which was really cleverly written and executed, and through the soundtrack."
Runner-up Happy Thoughts provided an insight into the thoughts of a person as he writes a suicide note.
A surprise award was also presented by judge Greg van Borssum to Robbie Wright for his film When We Were Young – A Dance Film.
Having worked with some of the finest choreographers and dancers in the world, van Borssum said he could see the potential of Wright’s talent and arranged a dance tutorial with some of the best choreographers in the country.
The top ten films can now be viewed online.
Competition judges:
• Andrew Morley – Actor, Neighbours, Home & Away
• Danielle Cormack – Actor Wentworth, Rake, Xena: Warrior Princess
• Dov Kornits – Editor of FilmInk Magazine
• Erin James – Actor, The Little Death
• Greg van Borssum – Assistant director, Happy Feet, Happy Feet 2; weapons advisor Mad Max: Fury Road
• Jessica Grace Smith – actor, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Home & Away; director Everybody Else Is Taken
• Macario De Souza – director, Bra Boys, Fighting Fear.
• Paul Sullivan – 2nd/3rd assistant director The Matrix Trilogy, Moulin Rouge & Star Wars Episodes II& III
• Peter Reynolds – Visual effects on X-Men Origins: Wolverine, & Mad Max: Fury Road
• Shae-Lee Shackleford – Producer, director and one third of SketchShe
• Socratis Otto – Actor I, Frankenstein, Gone, Wentworth.
• Ursula Dabrowsky – director of Family Demons & Inner Demon